The present invention generally relates to the cutting of fabric, and, more specifically, to the use of ultraviolet light to cut fabrics through photochemical decomposition. The invention is a result of a contract with the Department of Energy (Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36).
The international garment industry has, as one of its chief endeavors, the time consuming and expensive process of cutting the pattern of the piece of clothing from many layers of material. In the recent past, this was accomplished with large reciprocating knives, which cut a pattern, under either digital or manual control, through many layers of cloth.
More recently, lasers have been utilized as thermal sources to actually burn through the fibers of the cloth. When focussed to very fine spots, the lasers can burn through many layers of cloth. Very fine cuts, with high precision are possible with the cloth on a numerically controlled positioning table. However, although the laser-cutting method is faster than the knife-cutting method of the past, it still suffers from the time delay inherent in having to trace around a pattern, and the complexity and expense of numerical controls.
A large segment of the population is familiar with the effect of ultraviolet light from the sun deteriorating automobile upholstery. This action occurs even though some of the ultraviolet light is intercepted by the automobile glass. To produce this deterioration, the ultraviolet light photochemically interacts with the textile fibers, changing their chemical and physical properties. The more obvious effect is the bleaching of the fabric due to the interaction of the ultraviolet solar photons with the dyes used to color the fabric. The more deleterious effect is the eventual shredding of the fabric due to loss of the mechanical strength of the fabric.
The present invention uses this photochemical effect of solar ultraviolet radiation to present an improved method for cutting fabrics. It accomplishes this by use of laser radiation shone through pathways in a pattern, such as a holographic phase filter, to cut through multiple layers of material, with the entire pattern cut simultaneously.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the cutting of fabric which can cut at the same time an entire pattern from a piece of fabric.
It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the cutting of patterns from fabric which does not require numerical control.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the cutting of various sized patterns from multiple layers of fabric utilizing a laser shining ultraviolet light through a holographic phase filter.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.